Conversation in a Car
by ViviChick
Summary: Vicki and Henry on a long stakeout. Continues the opening scene in Necrodrome. Beta'd by the wonderful FitzsGirl. One shot.


Stakeouts were a necessary part of the P.I. job. Vicki hated the long nights in a car staring at a no-tell motel. She hated it especially in the Toronto winters, but it had to be done. Rarely did she leave one without incriminating evidence, but damn it was chilly. The cold never seemed to bother Henry. And it was nice having the company.

Henry had more stories than she could ever listen to in a lifetime, so there was always entertainment. Though there were moments where Vicki felt boring in comparison. What tales could she possibly tell a 450+ year-old vampire that would be even remotely interesting? Shot by a mobster and dumped out with the garbage? She didn't have anything that came even _close_ to that. Except the time she shot Mike, but Henry had heard that one. Though there was that one d…

"Vicki?" Henry broke into her thoughts. "Would that be alright?"

"Hmm?" she blushed, realizing that she had been completely missed his question.

Henry smiled, narrowing his eyes. "You have been on an entirely different planet, haven't you?"

Vicki grabbed the first reasonable excuse that came to mind. "Sorry. Long stakeout," she replied, grinning sheepishly.

Vampiric hearing did not miss her slight hesitation. "Tell me," he said.

"I'm sorry? Tell you what? No, I wasn't thinking of anything. There's nothing," Vicki answered far too quickly.

Smirking, Henry thought she looked most adorable when she was avoiding something that made her uncomfortable. Except the ever-present "what is going on between us" discussion. Her evasion of _that_ subject was becoming less cute.

"C'mon Vicki," he coaxed, dimples blazing. "It will help keep you awake. Wasn't it you who said, just the other night, that you had to stay sharp on a stakeout?"

Trying to stall, she demanded, "Only if you swear you won't laugh."

"Why would I laugh?" Henry asked, wearing his best innocent face.

Pulling her lips into a tight line, Vicki sighed. There was no way she was gonna get out of this. "Fine. Just remember, you asked for it, Mister."

"Noted." Sweeping his arm before him, Henry motioned for her to proceed.

Feeling like an idiot, Vicki began, "The other night I had a really weird dream...

"I was living in my old house on Robin Hood Road, but I wasn't little. I was an adult, and I was half vampire, half human. No clue why or how, but in the dream it was an accepted fact; nothing new. Anyway, I got out of bed and walked into the living room because my old buddy from college, Jesse, was sleeping on the pull-out couch. He pulled me onto his lap and we started talking and for some reason my front left fang was loose. It was wiggling. Y'know, like when you start to lose your teeth as a kid? The loose tooth only caused _me_ mild concern, but made Jesse squeamish and a bit nauseous.

"Then my mother poked her head in from the kitchen and told me that the chicken was ready to go in the oven. Oh yeah, apparently, there was chicken. I walked into the kitchen to check on it and I realized there was no sauerkraut. This distressed me for some reason, because in the dream, it seemed imperative that a chicken should be roasted with sauerkraut. So, I began to make it and stuff the chicken and put it in the oven. Then I got a glass of blood from the fridge and began to sip it. That's when Jesse _really_ got queasy…"

As she trailed off, Vicki glanced to her partner and saw his sorry attempt at keeping a straight face.

"I told you!" Vicki cried. "I told you not to laugh!"

Barely holding in a snort of mirth, Henry managed to ask, "Your fang was… wiggling?"

"Yes," hissed a now beet-red P.I.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Vicki shaking her head, Henry getting himself back under control. After a rather uncomfortable pause, Henry turned to face her.

Schooling his features into a near academic expression, the vampire said, "In dreams, teeth usually represent self-esteem. Losing teeth indicates a loss of that self-esteem or sense of self. A wiggling tooth may represent a tenuous hold on an aspect of yourself. You're torn between two aspects of your personality -- maybe one a bit darker, maybe one more along the lines of however _you_ see the socially-acceptable norm.

"You don't generally seem all that fussed about presenting a blend of the two to the people you meet, but there's something or _someone_ in your life that's throwing the difference between these aspects into sharp relief. This makes you look at them in a new way and maybe even making you a little bit uncomfortable about reconciling them -- or _not_ reconciling them, as the case may be. Vicki, maybe it's even something you've only ever felt subconsciously, or maybe it's just starting to make itself known in your conscious mind."

Still staring out the car window, Vicki thought about what he'd said. She had just written it off as a weird dream. Typical that Henry had to turn it into some big deal.

Vicki huffed, "Henry, that isn't the point. It was just a dream! Aren't I allowed a freaky dream without it having to mean something?"

"Ok…" Henry began, "Obviously my interpretation struck a nerve. What do _you_ think it means?"

"I don't _care_ what it means! It doesn't mean anything. You asked what I was thinking and that was it! Happy?"

"Victoria…" Henry was at a loss. He always managed to piss her off somehow. No woman in his long existence had been able to make him feel like this. Continuously confused and about to fall off a steep cliff.

Sighing, Vicki tried to explain. "It wasn't supposed to mean anything. It was just a dream. A stupid dream. Just… leave it. It doesn't matter, ok?" she said, offering a wan smile.

Surprised at her willingness to let the matter rest, Henry jumped at the chance. "You're right. Sometimes dreams are just that. Dreams."

"Ok, then," she agreed.

Back on familiar ground again, they both returned their attention to the seedy motel across the street.

Trying to hide his smirk, Henry just couldn't resist, "One thing, Vicki. Was the weird part of the dream the part where you had fangs, or the part where you were cooking?"


End file.
